Edouard Greiffiths wrote:
Yeah, I think this is due to the fact that the fill zone is constituted of edge to edge segments and the program does not allow you to go below a certain segment thickness (you can choose it in the fill zone contextual menu). From what I saw in the code it is limited to 5 mils anyway but this restriction could be lifted. Indeed these segments could be made thinner, maybe it was a conservative choice not to make them thinner but with the present workforce under the machine hood it should be feasible. I think this could be changed fairly easily.
I think thinner is bad. if a fill is made of smaller than the minimum trace width allowed by your pcb manufacturer then there will be problems. I know that protel dxp can make perfectly smooth fills with 20mil traces, so this is doable. If you look at the gerbview help file in the rs274x section, it describes polygons. Really you should just draw the outline. maybe in the cad program it could filled with lines going horizonatal / vertical (protel does it this way), but in the gerber file, I think it should be those G36/G37 codes. I haven't taken a look at this code yet, but I intend to.
a related question: has anyone tried to do a DRC "List Unconn" when the connection is made by a Fill? I've got this board I'm about ready to mill; the bottom is a dedicated ground plane with vias at each ground pin. so those connections should be made by the filled zone on the bottom side of the board. DRC says they aren't connected.
-ryan williams
